Eighteen Rangers have been suspended after one or more of them fired blanks into the air at a crowded beach and boating area along Florida’s Emerald Coast, the authorities said this week.
The Rangers were in the area of Fort Walton Beach for the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, an annual pirate-themed festival that draws residents and tourists to the region. They participated in a mock sea battle, firing blanks as a pirate boat approached the city landing, on the evening of May 16. But that event was the only festival activity in which the Rangers were approved to fire their weapons, the City of Fort Walton Beach said in a statement.
Earlier that day, the Rangers had gone to a popular boating area several miles away, Crab Island, which is in Choctawhatchee Bay, and some fired blanks there, too, according to city officials.
Video posted on social media showed two small boats with uniformed military personnel in a crowded area near other vessels carrying passengers as well as bathers in the water. In the video, at least one of the personnel fires into the air.
At least five calls reporting the gunfire came in to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office just before 3:30 p.m. on May 16, a spokeswoman said.
Michael Ingram, a charter boat captain, told Task & Purpose, a news outlet that covers the military, that when the firing began, he heard screaming, and his clients and many other boaters took cover.
“What happened at Crab Island was not part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, nor was it approved by either the City of Fort Walton Beach or the Billy Bowlegs organization,” the city said in a statement.
The incident on May 16 was reported by Task & Purpose earlier this week.
The 18 soldiers involved were suspended from their duties as instructors while the Army investigates, according to Jennifer K. Dolsen, a spokeswoman for the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning in Georgia.
The soldiers were with the 6th Ranger Training Battalion assigned as instructors in the swamp phase of the Rangers course at Camp Rudder in Florida.
“We take this situation seriously and are investigating,” Ms. Dolsen said in a statement. “The Army will ensure accountability based on the outcome of the investigation.”
There were no reports of injuries.
The pirate festival, which the city has celebrated for 69 years, ran from May 15 through May 19 this year, with mock battles, skirmishes, fireworks and entertainment.
Christine Hauser is a Times reporter who writes breaking news stories, features and explainers.
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